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Is it possible to achieve a good life for all within planetary boundaries?

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  • Jason Hickel

Abstract

The safe and just space framework devised by Raworth calls for the world’s nations to achieve key minimum thresholds in social welfare while remaining within planetary boundaries. Using data on social and biophysical indicators provided by O’Neill et al., this paper argues that it is theoretically possible to achieve a good life for all within planetary boundaries in poor nations by building on existing exemplary models and by adopting fairer distributive policies. However, the additional biophysical pressure that this entails at a global level requires that rich nations dramatically reduce their biophysical footprints by 40–50%. Extant empirical studies suggest that this degree of reduction is unlikely to be achieved solely through efforts to decouple GDP growth from environmental impact, even under highly optimistic conditions. Therefore, for rich nations to fit within the boundaries of the safe and just space will require that they abandon growth as a policy objective and shift to post-capitalist economic models.

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  • Jason Hickel, 2019. "Is it possible to achieve a good life for all within planetary boundaries?," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(1), pages 18-35, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:ctwqxx:v:40:y:2019:i:1:p:18-35
    DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2018.1535895
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    Cited by:

    1. Gräbner-Radkowitsch, Claudius & Strunk, Birte, 2023. "Degrowth and the Global South: The twin problem of global dependencies," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 213(C).
    2. Fioramonti, Lorenzo & Coscieme, Luca & Costanza, Robert & Kubiszewski, Ida & Trebeck, Katherine & Wallis, Stewart & Roberts, Debra & Mortensen, Lars F. & Pickett, Kate E. & Wilkinson, Richard & Ragnar, 2022. "Wellbeing economy: An effective paradigm to mainstream post-growth policies?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    3. Kira J. Cooper & Robert B. Gibson, 2022. "A Novel Framework for Inner-Outer Sustainability Assessment," Challenges, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-27, December.
    4. Langridge Nicholas & Buchs Milena & Howard Neil, 2023. "An Ecological Basic Income? Examining the Ecological Credentials of Basic Income Through a Review of Selected Pilot Interventions," Basic Income Studies, De Gruyter, vol. 18(1), pages 47-87, June.
    5. Matthew J. Burke, 2020. "Energy-Sufficiency for a Just Transition: A Systematic Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-14, May.
    6. Hennen, Sonja, 2022. "Concepts of justice in the degrowth debate," IPE Working Papers 179/2022, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE).
    7. Schuster, Antonia & Lindner, Michael & Otto, Ilona M., 2023. "Whose house is on fire? Identifying socio-demographic and housing characteristics driving differences in the UK household CO2 emissions," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    8. Elisa Savelli & Maurizio Mazzoleni & Giuliano Baldassarre & Hannah Cloke & Maria Rusca, 2023. "Urban water crises driven by elites’ unsustainable consumption," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 6(8), pages 929-940, August.
    9. Mumbunan, Sonny & Maitri, Ni Made Rahayu, 2022. "A Review of Basic Income for Nature and Climate," OSF Preprints bre43, Center for Open Science.
    10. Marcellus Forh Mbah & Linda A. East, 2022. "How Can “Community Voices” from Qualitative Research Illuminate Our Understanding of the Implementation of the SDGs? A Scoping Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-15, February.
    11. Marketta Vuola & Mika Korkeakoski & Noora Vähäkari & Michael B. Dwyer & Nicholas J. Hogarth & Jari Kaivo-oja & Jyrki Luukkanen & Eliyan Chea & Try Thuon & Keophousone Phonhalath, 2020. "What is a Green Economy? Review of National-Level Green Economy Policies in Cambodia and Lao PDR," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-20, August.
    12. Koskimäki, Teemu, 2023. "Targeting socioeconomic transformations to achieve global sustainability," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 211(C).
    13. Longyu Shi & Linwei Han & Fengmei Yang & Lijie Gao, 2019. "The Evolution of Sustainable Development Theory: Types, Goals, and Research Prospects," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-16, December.
    14. Gulliver Lux & Emmanuelle Fromont & Thi Le Hoa Vo, 2023. "Green business: Growth or degrowth to meet IPCC targets? Discussion of an assessment tool: IPCC CAPRO change target," Post-Print hal-04188747, HAL.
    15. Gómez-Alvarez Díaz, M. Rosario & Pérez León, Víctor Ernesto & Fuentes Saguar, Patricia, 2024. "How close are European countries to the doughnut-shaped safe and just space? Evidence from 26 EU countries," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 221(C).
    16. Hernández, Mauricio & Chávez-Bustamante, Felipe, 2024. "Sufficiency between producers and consumers: A configurational analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).

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